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Troll War
The Troll War was a mighty conflict some two thousand years in the past between Quel'Thalas and later the humans of Arathi, and the Amani Empire. This page documents the role of House Firesong in the conflict. For a general, canon synopsis, visit the Wowpedia Page. If you are unfamiliar with the canon of the war, it is advised to read that prior to the Firesong-specific content below, which does not represent official lore. House Firesong's role in the Troll War is divided into two segments, the first under the lordship of Felodor Firesong, grandfather of the current Lord, Entilzha Firesong. Felodor inflicted grave losses upon the trolls and defended Ashal'Thalas from the perilous start to the conflict, from which the elves were largely caught off guard. His son, Xarian Firesong rose to Lordship upon his father's demise in the Thalassian Range, and led House Firesong to victory during the remainder of the conflict, as the remaining trolls increasingly reverted to guerrilla tactics with the bulk of their forces in the south. Felodor Lordship Felodor Firesong, grandson of Ashal'Thalas founder Solanar Firesong I, led Ashal'Thalas at the onset of the Troll War, and was instrumental in defending the holding from the Amani advance, initially focused upon the the now-vanquished troll stronghold which exists today as the Thalassian realm Villanlle, which at that time was at that time was mighty troll stronghold, though conquered by House of Firavel during the conflict. Felodor forged lasting ties with the Magisters of Silvermoon during the conflict, ending the quasi-isolationist status of Ashal'Thalas and fully incorporating the previously reclusive realm into greater Thalassian territory. The southern border was by far the greatest threat at the onset of the war, and with the Magisters of Silvermoon, orchestrated a series of southern runestones along the border with the Amani territory. Felodor oversaw the expansion of the southern Ashal'Thalas city of Ember Watch, a stronghold of House Firesong's Rangers, the Emberstriders. T The pass currently known as the Xarian Pass to the southern Greenwood, currently the Ghostlands, was sealed with the aid of Silvermoon's Magisters, using an earlier version of spellwork employed in the Key of Three Moons. A moonstone, the Heart of Solanar, was concealed deep in the Central Highlands, and combined with Ember Watch and the runestones, effectively blocked troll access to Ashal'Thalas from Zul'Aman and leaving only northern routes from Tor'watha, and difficult crossings of the Thalassian range isolating Ashal'Thalas from inland Quel'Thalas. Felodor returned to the Dal'felo Spire for a time, bolstering the Spire's long range arcane weaponry, and employing it against troll incursions from Tor'watha in the north. He also used his great command of fire magics to deploy fire elementals both around the spire, and through the cannonfire of enchanted stones, a magic that that House Firesong has not used since, and it is unclear if such capacity was limited to Felodor and his unnatural command over the realm of fire. There was relative quiet for a time, during which Felodor deployed a portion of the forces of Ashal'Thalas to join Thalassian efforts to drive them from what is now the Ghostlands, and march on Zul'Aman. High King Anasterian had since brought the humans into the war, and more of the troll forces were held up further South, in Arathi and the Eastweald. This confidence however proved premature, for the training of human magi had only begun, and troll raiding parties began crossings of the treacherous Thalassian Pass, slaying Firesong Rangers as well as defeating enough of his fire elementals to worry Felodor. Reports from surviving rangers spoke of a Warlord from Tor'watha massing forces in the Thalassian Pass, for a likely strike against the Dal'felo Spire itself. Without the Spire's long range weapons, there was little to prevent the trolls remaining in Tor'watha and Zeb'watha, both under siege from elven forces, from pouring into northern Ashal'Thalas. After the continued loss of rangers in the mountains, Felodor, with the intelligence they had gained, led a larger force into the mountains, bolstered by his fire elementals, short range portals to make traversing the rugged terrain easier, and a contingent of arcanists. The Amani however held the higher ground, and their scattered, elevated positions slowly began to pick away at the elven contingent. At last coming upon an Amani camp, Felodor and his arcanists obliterated the position in fierce fighting, mounting his Flamestrider to pursue the fleeing trolls through a mountain pass. Too few rangers remained alive or in proximity to advise that such was unwise, and neither Felodor nor the magi with him held experience with fighting on such rugged terrain. A troll ambush from above awaited Felodor, and as he tanged with a Shadow Hunter, was stricken by a poisoned Amani dart during the fighting, which gave the Shadow Hunter the upper hand and brought about Felodor's end. Felodor's son, Xarian Firesong, having assumed command of the Dal'felo Spire while his father was away led House Firesong through the remainder of the conflict. Xarian Lordship Xarian Firesong was young, a mere few hundred years old, at the time of his father's passing, and though Felodor had prepared his son well in the ways of magic and leadership, lacked Felodor's deep connection to the Firelands, and favored more traditional arcane magics. As the intense fighting shifted to the south, the bulk of House Firesong's forces were committed to King Anasterian, as the elves worked with the humans to encircle the might of the Amani Empire far to the south of Quel'Thalas. Major attacks grew less common, but the troll raiders grew increasingly savage in their attacks on civilian populations, often hit and run style attacks in the dead of night. Though major incursions across the Thalassian Range came to an end as the force with which Felodor was lost was reinforced, it became clear the Amani had forces within the Central Highlands, which covers much of Ashal'Thalas, and the attacks were often against populations within or on the outskirts of the forest. Increased coordination became apparent over time, with three attacks in one night, all with the victims heads placed upon spikes, in various parts of Ashal'Thalas disconnected from one another. Xarian considered the threat serious enough to prevent his own march south, though most of his forces had been committed to Anasterian's efforts to secure Thalassian borders and prevent the return of the massive troll army in the south. Xarian did recall a number of his own rangers, the Emberstriders, as well as Farstrider units dealing with similar situations across Quel'Thalas. Once such elf was Ranger-Captain Ariella Dawnbow. Ariella had dealt with similar threats against Tranquilen, and bonded with Xarian, the pair coming to spend much time together, ultimately to marry, though true bonding of that nature is not believed to have occured until after the war. Regardless, the pair drew close, and spoke of what she had learned interrogating troll prisoners. These trolls spoke of their gods, beings known as "loa". The loa mentioned by trolls had been varied and mostly in the form of ancient animal spirits, akin to wild gods, and each troll seemed to hold their personal loa. A particular entity known as Bwonsandi held seemingly universal appeal over the trolls concerning death, for the thought of their spirits travelling anywhere else upon death but to his shrouded realms, utterly petrified them. <<> * Xarian captures the troll Tros'no and his family from the outskirts of Zeb'watha, guided by Ariella * Convinced Tros'no he has a magic which will imprison souls forever, keep them form Bwonsandi. * Release Tros'no but demand he provide Xarian intelligence on troll movements or this will be Tros'no's own fate. ** Possibly make believe Tros'no's wife is killed, though not sure how to convince him her soul is not with Bwondansi. Not sure if trolls aware if a soul exists or not, no warlock magic like soulstones at this time. Category:Troll Wars